Swine Flu & Coffee

Utopia of Warsaw Coffee Shops

I'm spending the morning at my favorite coffee shop, Wayne's Coffee, which is conveniently located right across the street from my apartment. It provides the perfect combination of factors which make an ideal coffeeshop: free internet, minimal smoke, lots of outlets, and employees who generally leave you alone. Today is a bit of an exception when it comes to the last factor, but I don't mind.

The guy at the counter and I had a mini-drama about honey for my tea...they didn't have any out on the counter, so he went to look for more in the back. He reported that the bulk package of honey was frozen. He put it in hot water to thaw. The prognosis wasn't looking good. This information trickled in as updates in 5-minute intervals which he'd trot over to my table to provide.

Finally, we had success with the honey, and he came over to me with a large jar and a spoon, from which I scooped just enough for my tea. Hooray!

Then we started talking. Turns out he's from Mexico, and has been here for over a year working on his thesis for school (I had noticed a strange accent, but didn't think much of it). He said it's great to meet another North American.

We commiserated about the situation in our homeland, and about how Poles are wary of us. I told him that our clients don't want us coming into the office directly after arriving from the US after our periodic trips home. They've asked us to self-quarantine for 1-2 days before coming into the office. Fair enough, I suppose.

He told me that customers here often ask where he's from, and these days jump back a little when he says he's from Mexico. Once he assures them he hasn't been to Mexico in 4 months, they relax.

Who knew that in coming to Warsaw, the most discrimination I'd feel stems from my being from New York? And that swine flu would be something over which an American and a Mexican could bond, all the way out in Warsaw?